Summer Tanager and Others Arrival

I began to hear the stochatic "pit-ti-tuck" (as described by the Cornell Lab) of the Summer Tanager a couple of days ago. I have been awaiting the arrival of the male and female; I noticed them for the first time last year. The male was very elusive, I had a hard time spotting him in the tall canopy of the trees. It took me a couple of days to identify the female as she is looks nothing like the male.  You can see pictures of them here. (I didn't include any copyrighted photos here). I marvel that this pair managed their migration from South-Central America to my little patch of heaven here.  But they are here, and I am happy.

Not so happy, though, that my beloved Wood Thrush have not returned.  The third week in April generally welcomes my beloved birds--who instantly let me know they are here with their song.  However, they are perhaps just silent--busily making their nests.  Last year their choral work was greatly muted, and I worried about them.  Last week, when I was expecting much, I heard little. It was a faint few notes, and then nothing.

My white-throated sparrows have departed northward.  I miss their lovely calls and their flitting about in the brush they called home.  The yellow-rumped warblers are gone, too, insofar as I can tell. I saw an indigo bunting briefly (as with last year).  I'm on the look out for the rose-breasted grossbeak that did a 2 week layover with a female.

My bluebirds have already made a second nest in the box.  No sooner had I cleaned the old nest out at 4 p.m.....left the top off for it to dry out...returned at 8 a.m. to find a fully-constructed nest.  It looked identical to the one that I took out to include a crown of pollen!  I'm enjoying seeing the fledglings, but I only see two of the four that I think fledged.

Hope you are keeping an eye out in your neck of the woods for visitors.

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Bluebirds, Season Two

Last year was our first season of having Bluebirds.  We had 5-6 Bluebirds actively winter with us this year.  Within the last couple of weeks, I now just have a mating pair, as the others in the small flock have likely moved on to their chosen nesting areas. I put out suet and live mealworms for them, whistling each time.  They are attuned to the sliding glass door opening, the whistling and the clang I make against the mealworm dish. Sometimes my customers are waiting on the deck rail prior to getting any auditory cues that a meal is coming. It is lovely to see in the morning.

My customers for suet and mealworms are not just the Bluebirds.  This year, for the first time, I noticed the cardinals eating both suet and mealworms...though for the latter, their interest in them did not appear until recently.  I have a smallish flock of about 8 or so cardinals that have over-wintered in my backyard.  Other  visitors have included Yellow Bellied sapsucker, Red bellied Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Brown Creeper, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, White Breasted Nuthatch, Red Breasted Nuthatch (who gone for about a month now heading toward breeding areas) Carolina Wren, Dark Eyed Juncos, White Throated Sparrows, Goldfinches, Pine Warbler and House/Purple finches.  Oh...and squirrels and noctornal visitors opossums and racoons.  I don't wish to feed any of that trio and bring in the suet vending machine.

When the weather was warm for a few days in late February, I saw the female Bluebird with nesting materials in her mouth and activity at the nest box.  Then real February weather kicked in, and I noted no further activity.  It was clear that in late February, birds had paired up for Spring mating.  Where visitors were singular to the feeding stations, I noticed that they had paired up. Where it is difficult to see one Pileated Woodpecker, I saw a pair flitting about in the oak trees--making raucus noise.  Same to be said for the Red-bellied (who have excavated a cavity in a dead branch outcrop of a White Oak, Carolina Wren, White-breasted Nuthatch and the Tufted Titmouse.  What is really touching is to see the males offering mealworms to their females.

Two days ago, I noted that the male Bluebird had a beak full of mealworms and flew to the box.  Was it possible that eggs had been laid and hatched and I missed it?  I whistled on my way to the box with my step ladder and screw driver to unfasten top of the box to peek in.  I tapped on the box several times to give the female a chance to leave if she was in there.  When I opened the box, the female was quietly sitting on the nest.  I could not observe either eggs or young.

Did you know?  Birds typically lay their eggs in the morning.  So if you you are monitoring a nest, you should do it after noon time to give the hen a chance to lay her egg (it is a process).  Egg laying is a serialized event...one a day until the clutch is done.

I went back yesterday after I observed the hen off her nest (and eating mealworms I had offered).  Her nest had 4 eggs.  I'll check again this afternoon to see if there is a 5th one.  If not, I have a starting point for monitoring the nest.  I monitor the nest through Cornell's NestWatch and I also participated in Project Feeder Watch this year.  Both offer a great way to systematize your observations and reporting of bird activity.

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